First Amendment

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Sep 3, 2013, 10:45 am CDT

The owners of a food truck banned from New York’s statehouse because of its name are claiming a First Amendment violation.

Andrea Loguidice and Brandon Snooks say the name—the Wandering Dago—is a “playful reference” to their own Italian heritage, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. But a state agency denied their application to park their truck at Albany’s Empire State Plaza because the name was deemed offensive, according to the lawsuit (PDF).

The suit also challenges a decision to expel the food truck from the Saratoga Race Course.

The couple is represented by George Carpinello, a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner. His previous First Amendment experience included an appeal filed on behalf a brewery that wanted to use a label showing a frog making an obscene gesture, the Law Blog says. A New York-based appeals court ruled on behalf of his client in 1998.